Love and War
by Midnight Blue Knight
Summary: Balamb and Galbadia are at war. Selphie is injured in battle. She receives help from a kind stranger. But is she developing feelings for an enemy soldier?


Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters, places, and situations. I do, however, own my left toe. Let's review: Square owns Final Fantasy VIII, I own my left toe. Any questions? Good, there will be a pop quiz tomorrow.  
  
  
A/N: I know, I know. I shouldn't be starting new fics when I've got a whole bunch of unfinished ones. Fret not, I do plan on finishing them all in due time. I'm kind of stuck on them though and I'm hoping that going with this new idea will bring me some inspiration. Here goes nothing.  
  
A/N 2 : Also, I'm not going to use healing spells as a cure-all type thing. It would be really hard to write a war fic like that.  
  
  
  
Prologue…  
  
It had been two months since Galbadia Garden had declared war on Balamb Garden. The fighting just kept getting more and more intense. Galbadia seemed to be bent on domination, while Balamb was trying to be the protector. It had all started when Galbadia led a campaign to overtake Esthar. Squall wouldn't stand for it so he had the Balamb SeeDs take measures to help defend Esthar. This is what led Galbadia to finally make a formal declaration of war on Balamb Garden.   
The main bulk of the fighting was currently on the continent of Balamb. The fire cavern was considered an ideal base for an army with its natural defenses and its location being so close to the shore. Of course, it was in Balamb Garden's territory, but Galbadia was looking to change that. The heavily forested area just outside the cave had become a bloody battle ground. Squall and the group that defeated Ultimecia, including Rinoa, had been leading the struggle to defend the fire cavern.   
It seemed that with a group like this on Balamb's side, there would be no way for Galbadia to win. They did not factor in, however, the power of love…  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting With a Kind Stranger  
  
Selphie ran through the thick forest. Balamb was on the offensive and Selphie was leading a troop through the woods so they could attack. Selphie was one of the commanding officers during this time of war. She was of the same rank as Zell, Irvine, and Rinoa. Quistis was a rank above them since she was more experienced. Zell was the leading officer in the strategics department. Irvine was, of course, a sharp shooter. Rinoa helped Dr. Kadowaki with the injuries and other things of the medical nature. Selphie had become a sort of jack of all trades. She basically did whatever was needed. In this case it was leading her troops into battle.   
Suddenly, the shooting started. It was all around. Balamb had planned the attack, but had ended up getting ambushed. Selphie's troops were all armed with guns and gunblades. The longer range of these weapons made them better for this kind of conflict. Selphie, however, kept her trusty nunchuka. The shooting around them intensified. Selphie wasn't as worried about fighting back as she was about getting her troops out of the line of fire.  
"Everybody, get to cover!"she shouted. Everyone responded by running behind trees, hoping to escape the barrage of bullets. Selphie decided she wasn't going to find cover for herself until she made sure everyone else was safe. A SeeD near her tripped on a log while he was running for cover. Selphie bent down and hauled him up.  
"Get out of here!"she shouted at him over all the noise. He nodded and ran off. Selphie looked frantically around her to make sure everyone was all right. She finally decided that everyone was okay so she started to run to safety herself. When she was halfway to her destination, she felt the bullet. She fell to the ground and let out a scream of pain. Then she heard explosions behind her. She knew it was another Balamb troop launching grenades at the Galbadian soldiers. Then there was silence.   
The fighting had stopped and she could hear people running. One of the SeeDs stopped beside Selphie as she lay wounded on the ground.  
"Ma'am, I'm going to stay here with you,"he said.   
"No, get out of here before they start shooting again. Send help later. Just go,"she said.  
"But Captain! You need medical attention!"he persisted.  
"Go! Now!"she screamed. He hesitated, but finally he ran in the direction of his comrades. Then she heard more shooting. Tears came to her eyes. She knew it was another ambush. More Galbadian soldiers had been waiting for them. She knew her troops were mere moving targets for the soldiers to pick off. She wanted to cry at the thought of those lost lives. Then she heard the sound of more grenades, but she knew that she would not see all of her group alive that night.  
The bullet would she suffered was in her right leg. It wasn't a direct hit, but the wound was enough to keep her from being able to walk. She could only hope that someone did come for her.  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Dark Rendelia was busy treating wounds from that last grenade attack. He was a Galbadian soldier, but the ranking officers had assigned him to medical duty. There was only one good thing about that. He didn't have to wear those itchy, smelly Galbadian uniforms.   
He longed for more action though. There were reasons behind his medical assignment, though, as irrational as he thought they were. It wasn't that he wasn't in good shape. He was in top condition. One reason was his weapon of expertise. Dark was an archer. His commanders refused to believe that any weapon that didn't make something blow up or catch on fire was worth using. He also didn't happen to be as heartless as a lot of the Galbadian soldiers. Galbadia wasn't to keen on POWs, so their solution was kill, kill, kill. Dark just couldn't do that. He couldn't bring himself to kill all the SeeDs he came across.  
So he was the med guy. He didn't even have a name to the other soldiers, he was just the med guy. Sure he'd shoot off an arrow every now and then when it was needed, but most of the time he just tended to the injured. He didn't mind it so much. The fact that he got to wear his own clothes most of the time was a plus, but the simple fact was that he liked helping people.  
He had treated all the people in his vicinity. He decided to explore the surrounding area and make sure he didn't leave anyone. As he was walking, he saw a motionless figure laying in the grass.  
  
Selphie was still laying on the ground in the same spot she was before. Nobody had come for her. She was starting to get worried. She hoped that Galbadian soldiers wouldn't find her. She would make a very valuable hostage for them.  
She heard someone walking towards her. She lifted her head slightly to look at him. She was relieved that it wasn't a Galbadian soldier. It couldn't have been because this man didn't wear the uniform. He wore black combat boots, black cargo pants with the bottoms tucked into the boots, and a tight black sleeveless shirt. He was very handsome and pretty muscular. He had blue-black hair that was gelled into small spikes. She had never seen him before, but she knew he must have been sent from the Balamb. She was more relieved to see that he carried a medical kit with him.  
  
Dark cautiously approached the young woman. As he got closer, he tried to get a better look at her. What he saw took his breath away. She was absolutely magnificent. She was definitely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She wore a yellow dress and brown boots. This is when it hit Dark. This woman was from Balamb Garden. He knew because she didn't wear a uniform. Not even the commanding officers in the Galbadian army got away without wearing uniforms. Only medical personnel did and Dark was the only field med in this area. Then he saw the wound. It was a nasty gash on her knee. It looked like a bullet had grazed her, leaving a deep cut. As soon as he saw this he ran the rest of the way to her and knelt down beside her. It didn't matter what army she was fighting for, he wasn't going to just leave her here to be killed by one of the merciless Galbadian soldiers.  
He didn't have anymore healing spells to even numb the pain. He'd have to just put antiseptic on the wound and wrap it to prevent infection.  
  
Selphie saw him run towards her after staring at her for a little while. She had wondered if he would help her or just look at her. It looked as though he had been in a trance.It didn't matter now, though, because he was kneeling beside her taking out his medical supplies. He looked up for a second.  
"How do you feel?"he asked.  
"Okay, except for my leg,"she replied.  
"Do you feel nauseous?"he asked as he pulled a bottle of peroxide out.  
"No,"she said, wincing as he poured on the peroxide.  
"Good. I'm gonna wrap some gauze on this, but that won't be enough. You'll need to get it stitched up back at camp. The wound is right on your knee to so I'd stay off this leg for a while. You don't want to risk reopening the wound anyway,"he said.  
Selphie nodded. He pulled a roll of gauze out of his bag. He started to gently wrap it around her knee. Selphie shivered slightly. He had a really gentle touch. He also had really soft hands. Selphie found herself blushing.  
"There, that should do it,"he said as she finished,"By the way, what's your name?"  
"Selphie Tilmett,"she answered,"What about you?"  
"Dark Rendelia. Nice to meet you, Selphie,"he said smiling.  
"You too,"Selphie said smiling back.  
"Well, like I said, you shouldn't walk, so I think I should carry you back,"he said.  
"Oh no, I'm fine, really,"said as she tried to get up.  
As soon as she got on both of her feet her right leg buckled under the pressure. She toppled forward. Luckily, Dark was standing right in front of her. She landed in his arms. He was quite strong so he held her up with ease. They both looked up at each other. Their faces were inches away from each other. The both blushed like mad.   
"I told you so,"Dark said with a nervous laugh.  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"Selphie said laughing back.  
"I'm gonna carry you, all right?"he asked.  
"Okay,"she said reluctantly.  
He leaned down and put his right arm behind her knees and lifted her up. She put her arms around his neck for support. They again blushed at the close proximity. Selphie couldn't really place it, but this man was causing strange feelings in her to stir. She was strangely attracted to him.  
  
Dark started walking north. He knew this was the direction of the Balamb Garden camp. He just hoped he wouldn't have to explain himself to anybody at the camp. He would just drop her off and leave. He'd never have to see her again. It would be easy.  
Then he looked down at her. She had set her head on her shoulder. She looked so pretty like that. No! He couldn't think of her like that! She was the enemy. He couldn't get attached to her.  
He didn't realize how long he had been walking. His legs are arms weren't even tired. He didn't know what, but something about Selphie had made him carry on without even thinking about it. He had walked several miles, but it seemed like nothing. They were upon the Balamb Garden camp now. The only problem was he couldn't tell which tent was the medical tent. He couldn't look like he wasn't from here.   
Then he saw someone limping towards one of the tents. He took a chance. He headed towards. He looked inside. He had gotten lucky. This was the place. He headed over to a woman in a white coat. She looked up.  
"Oh my goodness! Selphie, you're alive!"she said happily.   
Then another girl in a light blue sleeveless jacket ran over.  
"Selphie!? You're okay! This is wonderful!"she shouted in glee.  
"A bullet hit my knee, but Dark saved me,"she said.  
"Are you Dark?"the woman in white asked him. He nodded.  
"Thank you for saving Selphie. Set her down on the table,"she directed.  
The woman in blue ran over and hugged Dark.  
"Thank you so much for saving her!"she said.  
"It was nothing, really. I was just happy that I could help,"he said honestly.  
"What about my troop? How many made it back?"Selphie asked with tears starting to form in her eyes.  
The woman in white replied with a sad tone in her voice,"About half made it back."  
Selphie looked down and started to cry. Dark wished he could make her tears go away. It made him sad to see her crying.   
"It'll be okay, honey. There was nothing you could have done,"the woman in white said consolingly.  
Selphie nodded, but it didn't look like that was what she really believed. She dried her tears after a few minutes and looked at Dark.  
"Dr. Kadowaki...Rinoa...do you think I could have a moment alone with Dark?"Selphie asked. Dark's eyes widened. Why would she want to be alone with him? He had to go anyway. At least it would give him a chance to say good bye to her.  
"Sure, hon. But not too long. I need to stitch up that cut,"the doctor said as she left the room.  
"Oh I get it. Sure, Selphie,"Rinoa said. She winked at Selphie as she left the tent.  
Selphie sat up and turned to Dark. Dark spoke first.  
"I really must be going,"he said.  
"Wait! I understand you have to be somewhere, but I want to see you again,"she said sincerely.  
Dark knew this was impossible, but then she looked at him with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He didn't think he could say no to her.  
"...All right,"he said after much hesitation.  
"Which tent are you staying in? I'll come see you,"she said.  
"No!"he said a little too quickly,"I'll come to you."  
"Okay. If I'm not here I'm in tent 14,"she said.  
"All right. I'll come as soon as I get some time,"he said.  
"That sounds good. Good bye,"she said.  
"Good bye. And get some rest,"he said as he left the tent.  
He walked slowly back to the Galbadia camp. He didn't know what to do. Not only was it hard to find a way to see her, but he was deceiving her. She thought he was a Balamb SeeD. But he really did want to see her. He would just have to figure something out.  
  
  
  
Well, there's chapter 1. I'll try to write more soon if you like it. I know what you're thinking. All my male characters have spiky hair. Well, I have an obsession with spiky hair. I can't help it. Let me know what you think. Fare thee well. 


End file.
